On the eve of the Philadelphia Flyers’ season and home opener, they have made a few more announcements pertaining to the health of some injured players as well as roster and lineup changes.
Felix Sandström, who was dealing with a lower-body injury midway through preseason, is set to miss some more time and won’t be ready for the opener tomorrow. In his stead will be Samuel Ersson, who impressed mightily during his 4 preseason appearances, knocking off the veteran Troy Grosenick with relative ease. If healthy, Sandström (groin strain) would’ve figured to have started the season as Carter Hart’s backup, nevertheless it is an exciting time for the young prospects who have been churning in their pipeline for quite some time.
Cam Atkinson is also set to miss the season opener as he deals with an injury of his own. He missed most, if not all, of the preseason nursing his ailment as well as seeing doctors and specialists along the way. The Flyers were relatively optimistic in regards to his status for Thursday night, however as fate would have it – especially in relation to the Flyers – that optimism might’ve been a glass-half-full approach. Atkinson was seen skating today but didn’t take any line rushes, which further explains the roster moves that took place yesterday.
In brighter news, young defenseman Egor Zamula has seemingly stapled his name into the starting lineup with a very impressive training camp and preseason. There was a lot of mystery behind who was going to take the two spots on the bottom rung of the defense. At first glance, it seemed like a lock that it would go to Justin Braun and Cam York but once the latter got sent down, it was all up in the air again. The Flyers made it seem like they were going to send down Zamula and Ronnie Attard shortly after, but they both remained on the roster and are currently still around.
Zamula was seen taking reps with Braun, while Nick Seeler was with Attard on the fourth pair. The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor added further clarity on the situation when he tweeted that Attard was kept more so as an insurance policy in case of a sudden injury and as a reward for his fight with Ross Johnston. He should be sent down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms shortly, barring any unforeseen circumstances – which could be Rasmus Ristolainen’s sudden departure from practice and no update coming along from the Flyers.
Should Ristolainen not be available, Attard could suit up as he’s also a right-handed shot, though Seeler is waiting in the wings as well.
With Atkinson not being able to suit up tomorrow, the Flyers are relatively lucky that at least Joel Farabee is ready to go after he sustained an injury over the summer that, at the time, had him sidelined for the first few weeks of the season. The lines have not changed over the last few days, suggesting that they are set in stone, at least for Thursday’s game barring injury.
Scott Laughton – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny
Joel Farabee – Noah Cates – Owen Tippett
James van Riemsdyk – Morgan Frost – Wade Allison
Nicolas Deslauriers – Tanner Laczynski – Hayden Hodgson
Ivan Provorov – Tony DeAngelo
Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Egor Zamula – Justin Braun
Carter Hart
Samuel Ersson
General manager Chuck Fletcher also gave a little update on injured players Sean Couturier and Ryan Ellis. Pertaining to Ellis, he is still not in line for surgery at the moment and Fletcher said that they’re “continuing the process that we started a while ago and that Ryan’s been working hard at. We’ll just continue to see how things evolve.”
As for Couturier, he has been skating over the last few days and Fletcher is very pleased with how he is coming along. There is still no timetable for his return or what the next steps are in his rehab, but the fact that he’s been skating and skating at length is a good sign. Fletcher also said that this is the best he has looked and felt since before his surgery last season.
Music City Hockey Trip
Take a three day vacation to Nashville with Philly Sports Trips this October! The package includes direct flights, a three night stay at the Cambria Hotel Nashville Downtown, an all-inclusive tailgate, and tickets to the Flyers Predators game. $100 cash for anyone who shows proof they went to the Flyers game on the trip.
